Garment sleeve



1963 A. R. JOHNSON 3,112,495

GARMENT SLEEVE Filed Dec. 15, 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR. flew/gave P. Jfmwso/v A. R. JOHNSON GARMENT SLEEVE Dec. 3, 1963 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 15, 1960 M 3 H E N E2 WE m, M Q h 3,ll2,4h

Patented Dec. 3, 1963 3,112,425 GARMENT SLEEVE Arimgene R. .iolinson, 183% Girl Mill Road, Wantagh, N .Y. Filed Dec. 15, 196i), Ser. No. 75,993 1 Claim. (Cl. 2-270) This invention relates to garments and more specifically to a novel and improved garment sleeve which affords the appearance of a tailored sleeve and yet permits the wearer freedom of arm movement with negligible displacement of the cuff when the elbow is bent.

The design of garments embodying attractive sleeve designs and yet at the same time affording maximum freedom to the wearer has presented an exceedingly difiicult problem. In the case of blouses, shirts, dresses and similar garments, little if any difliculty is encountered when the sleeve terminates substantially above the elbow. In the case of long sleeved garments, however, the sleeve is either made relatively full and untailored, as in the case of a mans shirt, in order to provide adequate arm freedom, or, as in the case of womens garments, the upper portion of the sleeve is greatly enlarged and then tapers from a point below the elbow in order to provide a narrower cufi. These constructions are not attractive, however, for tailored blouses and dresses for womens wear and known sleeve constructions on tailered garments usually bind at the elbow and require the wearer to lift the sleeve when bending the elbow in order to prevent attendant discomfort.

This invention has, as one of its objects, the provision of a novel and improved sleeve, particularly useful for womens garments, which will afford freedom in the movement of the elbow and at the same time will prevent material shifting of the cuff upwardly when the elbow is bent.

Another object of the invention resides in the provision of a novel and improved tailored sleeve and cuff for blouses, shirts and dresses that affords the appearance of a conventional tailored sleeve and yet provides substantially complete freedom in the movement of the elbow.

The above and other objects of the invention will become more apparent from the following description and accompanying drawings forming part of this application.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a womans blouse in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the sleeve portion of a garment in accordance with the invention showing the cuff in a folded position;

PEG. 3 is a fragmentary perspective view of the lower portion of the sleeve in accordance with the invention to illustrate the manner in which the cuff portion is assembled to afford freedom of action;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary portion of a pattern for the sleeve of FIGURE 3;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the assembled cuif and adjoining portion of the sleeve;

FIG. 6 is a cross sectional view of FIG. 5 taken along the lines 6-5 thereof with the cuff in the closed position;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged fragmentary section of FIG. 6 to illustrate more clearly the construction of the sleeve portion adjoining the cuff; and

FIG. 8 is an enlarged cross sectional view of a fragmentary portion of the cuff.

As pointed out above the novel and improved sleeve in accordance with the invention affords the wearer considerably more freedom in arm movement and permits the elbow to bent in either a lowered or a raised position with minimum displacement of the cuff relative to the lower portion of the arm. This action is illustrated in FIG. 1 wherein the blouse 19 is provided with full length sleeves 11 and wherein it will be observed that whether the elbow is partially or fully bent, the cuff 12 remains in substantially the same position about the wrist of the wearer.

While any type of cuff may be employed in connection with this improved sleeve, the so-called French cuff illustrated in FIG. 1 affords a considerable degree of versatility, as the buttons 13 may be disengaged from the cooperating button holes and the cuff folded back as illustrated in FIG. 2.

The sleeve in accordance with the invention may be made in any desired manner, though in the illustrated embodiment a conventional longitudinal seam 14 is provided which generally lies beneath the arm.

In the fabrication of the sleeve in accordance with the invention, the upper portion of the sleeve or that part lying above the elbow and denoted in FIG. 1 by the numeral 15 is made in a conventional manner, though, as will be pointed out, the material is placed on a slight bias which may be as small as 10 to 15 degrees as indicated by the arrow 16 shown in FIGS. 3, 4, and 5. Since the material is placed in only a slightly biased position, it gives the appearance of a conventional sleeve wherein the threads of the material extending lengthwise of the arm are essentially parallel to the arm.

The lower portion 17 of the sleeve 11 is tapered slightly toward the wrist and may include integrally formed cuff portions 18 and 19, as illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4. Since the cuff usually has substantially more body than the sleeve itself, it may be interlined by the utilization of underlying layers l8 and 19, as illustrated in FIG. 8.

It will be observed in both FIGS. 3 and 4 that the diameter of the sleeve at a point adjoining the cuff is considerably larger in diameter than the finished sleeve in order to permit the formation of a relatively deep pleat generally denoted by the numeral 20, the pleat being formed by the attachment of the points 21 and 22 one to the other with the intervening portions of the material lying on the inside of the sleeve. In actual practice, the attachment is extended for a short distance of /2" to along the dotted lines 21 and 22' as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 and denoted by the numeral 24) in FIGURE 5. The pleat 26 then lies on the inside of the sleeve and the stitches which connect the material along the line 21' to the material along the line 22 preferably extend through the center of the pleated material to secure the underside of the pleat in place, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7. The forward ends of the pleat are also preferably tacked on the inside of the sleeve. The dot-ted lines 23 and 24 in FIGS. 3 and 4 represent the lines along which the material is folded on the inside of the sleeve to form the pleat 2%.

Referring now specifically to FIG. 4 which shows a pattern for a left sleeve, it will be observed that the attachmen-t point 22 is spaced substantially forwardly of the attachment point 21 so that the two cuff sections 18 and 19 appear to be displaced one relative to the other. This displacement of the cuffs constitutes a significant feature of the invention which, in cooperation with the slight biasing of the material in the sleeve, affords the novel and improved action attained by this invention. The grain line 16, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, is upwardly to the left, and it will be observed that the cuff part 19 is displaced to the right of the cuff part 18. With this arrangement, and when the attachment points 21 and 22 are interconnected as previously described, the cuif part 19 is moved to the left as viewed in FIG. 4 in order to meet and be aligned with the cuff part 18. In so doing, the material disposed within the pleat 2% is further displaced so that an additional biasing effect is attained within the pleat and essentially between the elbow and the calf. However, since the displacement of the cuff 3 in this way produces increased biasing of the material substantially wholiy within the pleat itself, the entire sleeve gives the impression of a conventional tailored sleeve having a decorative conformation adjoining the cufl? on the outer side of the arm.

With the foregoing arrangement, it will be observed that the slight biasing of the material throughout the length of the sleeve 11 and the increased biasing of the material within the pleat 20 permits one to freely bend the elbow and the strain placed on the material by reason of this action is relieved primarily by the biased material disposed within the pleat 2i and thereby prevents the cult 12 from being shifted upwardly on the arm. FIG. 5 shows more clearly the slight biasing of the material of the sleeve as indicated by the arrow 16 and the increased biasing of the material within the pleat 2 as indicated by the arrow 16.

In the instant embodiment of the invention, the cuff 12 is formed as an integral part of the sleeve 11, though it is evident that the cult may be made of a se arate piece of material and attached to the end of the sleeve.

While only one embodiment of the invention has been f: illustrated and described, it is apparent that changes, alterations and modifications may be made without departing from the true scope'and spirit thereof as defined by the appended claim. What is claimed is: A garment sleeve comprising an elongated sleeve of woven fabric, means securing two circumferentially.

spaced points of the end of said sleeve one to the other to form an inside pleat with the meeting edges of said pleat displaced one relative to the other lengthwise of said sleeve to shift the angular disposition of the weave of the fabric within the pleat relative to the angular disposition of the weave of the remainder of the sleeve fabric.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 452,179 Eighmie May 12, 1891 552,60l Williams Jan. 7, 1896 974,692 Moore Nov. 1, 1910 2,843,849 Stevenson July 22, 1958 

